courtesy La Biennale di Venezia
Venice Lido: 72nd Film Festival – Xavier
Giannoli – Marguerite. Xavier Giannoli’s
Marguerite takes place in 1921, the beginning of the Roaring Twenties. Not far
from Paris. It is party day at Marguerite Dumont’s castle. Like every year, an
array of music lovers gathers around a great cause at the owner’s place. Nobody
knows much about this woman except that she is rich and that her whole life is
devoted to her passion: music. Marguerite sings. She sings wholeheartedly, but
she sings terribly out of tune. In ways quite similar to the Castafiore,
Marguerite has been living her passion in her own bubble, and the hypocrite
audience, always coming in for a good laugh, acts as if she was the diva she
believes she is. When a young, provocative journalist decides to write a rave
article on her latest performance, Marguerite starts to believe even further in
her talent. This gives her the courage she needs to follow her dream. Despite
her husband’s reluctance, and with the help of a has-been divo, both funny and
mean, she decides to train for her first recital in front of a crowd of
complete strangers.
Staring: Catherine
Frot, Andre Marcon, Michel Fau, Christa Theret, Denis Mpunga, Sylvain Dieuaide.
Photograph ASAC courtesy La Biennale di Venezia
#Venezia72
- Red Carpet
Director Xavier Giannoli, Catherine Frot and
Andre Marcon
Director’s Statement. “I believe that, in order to make a film, we must not only have something
to say, but also something to withhold. The mystery behind a character is,
first of all, what makes me want to film him or her—to express an emotion, an
inner music. Marguerite has dedicated her whole life to music, to beauty.
But—though she doesn’t realize it— she is tragically, supremely tone-deaf. She
sings opera like a child might destroy a rose. The thing is comical in its
cruelty. Because Marguerite is, first and foremost, a woman in love who wants
to live her passions. No one has ever told her she cannot carry a tune. Why
not? What is this laceration in her voice and in our hearts? We all need our
illusions to live on.”
courtesy La Biennale di Venezia
Andre Marcon
#Venezia72
Xavier
Giannoli - Marguerite
Contessanally
– charming and dramatic – 7/10